


Androids are a Girl's Best Friend

by LadyInGrey



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Also it may be Fitzsimmons shipping it may not we'll see, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Artificial Intelligence, RoboFitz, The rest of the team doesn't come in until later sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2018-02-28 06:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2721590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyInGrey/pseuds/LadyInGrey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma Simmons befriends the SHIELD academy's friendly neighbourhood artificial intelligence, Fitz. They go through a lot together, from his transition to a human body, to terrifying fieldwork around the globe, and the fall of SHIELD itself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Androids are a Girl's Best Friend

Jemma Simmons was very clever. With two PhDs by the time she was seventeen and an offer to continue her studies at the very prestigious (and very secretive) SHIELD Academy of Science and Technology, it seemed like there was nothing she couldn't do.

  
Except, as it turned out, read a map.

  
It wasn't completely her fault that she'd gotten so lost (well, that was what she told herself, at least). The campus was absolutely massive and the maps they'd been provided with in the orientation packages were woefully lacking in detail. A couple of big, blank squares that were apparently the buildings, according to the names printed on them, laid out onto a sparsely detailed sheet with a little sticker over the dorms reading “YOU ARE HERE.”

Sadly for her, Simmons was most definitely anywhere but “here” at this point, somehow having managed to get herself into what seemed to be the steam tunnels that ran under the school, which probably weren't supposed to be accessed by students in the first place. _Well_ , she thought, turning a corner, _at least I can “explorer” to my list of achievements_.

For the past fifteen minutes, she'd been wandering this somewhat decrepit and, frankly, incredibly creepy place, which just seemed to twist further and further into the unknown depths of whatever the hell SHIELD was.

Really, being lost wasn't her main concern, however, she was more worried about being late for the first day of classes.

  
Oh god, that'd be terrible, showing up half an hour in, the professor seeing her and immediately pegging her as a poor student, holding that against her for the rest of the course, her marks plummeting, being kicked out of the academy and ending up being washed up all before she even hit her twenties. Nope, not gonna let that happen, no sir, she was going to get out of there somehow, get to class on time, and make sure her good girl reputation stayed intact. Now, what direction had she come from? This hall seemed to be a dead end, so maybe take the one to the right?

  
As she wandered, she noticed that there were a surprisingly large amount of security cameras for such an empty space. Well, top secret government organization, she reminded herself. Probably don't want to take any risks. At least if she got too lost down here and eventually died of starvation from never being able to locate the exit, the academy would know she had a damn good reason for missing class on the first day. Students would whisper her tale in awe around campus for years to come, _Did you hear about Jemma Simmons? She got lost in the tunnels but refused to give up trying to get out and died trying to make it to class. What a hero._ Okay, that was definitely exaggerating things a bit, maybe the hallucinations from hunger had begun to kick in already.

  
As she approached the end of the hall, Simmons noticed something she hadn't seen since before she had gotten lost down here, a door. It was grey and unlabeled aside from a large **DO NOT ENTER** sticker pasted over the window, with a loud hum coming from inside, along with a gentle blue glow.

  
“That's not suspicious in the least...” she muttered to herself, turning her head to look behind her. No other entrances in this hall, the only way to go from here was back. She looked to the door again. Was anyone even in there? Would they mind if she just...popped in to ask for directions? Oh, but what if they're a high ranking admin or someone like that? Are they going to be upset that she blatantly disregarded their sign? Uhg, this was a hard decision to make, but Simmons knew it was the best option at this point, lest she continue wandering for god knows how much longer. So, she swallowed her fears and stepped forwards, rapping her knuckles on the metal.  
No response. Huh, maybe they didn't hear her? She tried again, but still nothing. Well, she thought, glancing up to the security camera just above the door, hopefully, this won't be too bad, and pushed it open.

  
Gingerly, she stepped inside and looked around. It was dark and, shit, nothing but hulking black masses of computers with a single circular, pulsing blue light of what she assumed was the central processors. On many of the monitors, she could see SHIELD's logo, along with the security camera feeds from all over the campus, including right outside the door she had just entered. Well, that was just great, she was still hopelessly lost, and now there was security camera footage of her breaking a rule. Late and a rebel, oh, they were going to kick her out for sure. Best to get out of dodge before someone caught her and she was in even more trouble, so she took a step back, gently nudging the door open.

  
“You're lost.”

  
Simmons couldn't help the little gasp that escaped from her lips. Oh god, someone was in here and knew she'd disobeyed the sign, she was going to be in so much trouble!  
“Sir, I'm so sorry!” she blurted out. “I was trying to get to class and I somehow got down here and I've been wandering around for, like ever and-”

  
“Oh no, please don't be nervous!” the voice responded. It sounded...Scottish? “I just saw that you were wandering around on the security feed and looked like you could use some help!”

  
“So...you're not mad that I'm your office?” Simmons let the door shut, taking a step back in, looking around to see if she could spot the person, but found it too dark for her eyes to focus.

  
“No, not at all! Not many people besides the tech team and admins come down here, so it's always nice to have someone new to talk to!” he responded, and Simmons breathed a sigh of relief.

  
“Oh, that's a huge weight off my shoulders, thank you, sir! Uhm...” she looked over the room again. “Not to be rude, but would you mind turning on a light? I can't quite see you.”  
“But you're looking right at me?”

  
She leaned forward and squinted extra hard. Nope, nothing. This dude was messing with her, yes, he had to be, in revenge for disobeying the sign. “Sorry sir, there's nothing here but the computer.”

  
“Oh, uhm, this is a little awkward...” he sounded more nervous now, and Simmons couldn't help raising an eyebrow. “How do I phrase this, uh...hello! You are in fact looking right at me, I'm the computer. Well, okay, not the computer exactly, more of an artificial intelligence housed inside this computer unit, but, well, you get the point?”

  
Simmons' face contorted into something between confusion and disbelief. “That can't be true.”

  
“And why not?”

 

“Because...because computers don't talk!”

  
“Well, people don't usually talk to computers either.” he responded, and Simmons lulled her head to the side.

 

“You've got a point there,” she agreed. “But still, you can't really be Skynet or HAL or any of that, we're decades away from even being able to fathom that kind of technology!”

  
“Oh, you're right, how could I forget! If only we had the greatest minds all under one roof, I'm sure that would speed things up immensely, oh wait...” She frowned in response to his tone.

  
“Well, if you really are a robot, you sure are expressive for one.”

  
“I'm not a robot,” he responded. “I'm an AI, it's completely different. Robots are machines designed to do things, I'm more like...this is a bit tough to explain, I don't really like to muse over my own existence very much, gives me a bit of a headache.”

  
Simmons swallowed hard. “This cannot be real.”

  
“Look at it this way, you're at the academy for a top secret government organization, who else would have a super computer in their basement?” Simmons didn't respond, still looking a little frightened.

  
“You still don't believe me, do you? Okay, let me show you this then,” the blue light on the console grew brighter and shone right into her eyes, causing Simmons to raise a hand in an attempt to block it out.

  
“What are you doing?”

  
“Facial scan, so I can find out who you are,” he replied. “Ah, here we go! Simmons, Jemma Grace, from Devon, England, first year bio-chem with a PhD in each, wow, impressive!”  
“You got all that...from my face?” she asked, bewildered.

  
“Yes, I am programmed with an algorithm to deduce the most personal details of one's life from the micro expressions they make.”

  
“Wow, really?”

  
“No, I just matched the scan up to the student database, we're not _that_ advanced.”

  
“Oh...” Simmons wasn't going to lie, she was a little disappointed. “Well, it's still very neat.”

  
“Thank you!” he sounded almost proud. “I only ever really get to use it for assignments, nice to break it out every once in a while for fun.”

  
She smiled. “Well, glad to be of service then, uhm...do you have a name?”

  
“Yes, I do! I'm Fitz.”

  
“Fitz?” she repeated, thinly veiled skepticism in her voice.

  
“Yes, is there a problem with that?”

  
“No, not at all! It's just...that doesn't sound very computer-y. Does it mean something, like an acronym?”

  
“You know, I honestly have no idea. The scientists never really told me, just sort of went, “Okay, you're Fitz, monitor the system for us.” I never really questioned it.”

  
“Well, regardless, it's a very nice name,” she said. “So, you monitor the academy then?”

  
“Sort of, I do a lot of stuff, make schematics, help build things, and, yes, monitoring. A little bit of everything, really.”

  
“Wow.” was all Simmons could get out, because, frankly, she was still having trouble processing it. She'd just happened to stumble upon the friendly neighbourhood AI after getting so horrifically lost -oh shit! She still had to find that damn class (if she ever even found a way out of the tunnels, that is).

  
“Fitz, I'm so sorry, but I've got to go,” she said. “And yes, you were correct, I am incredibly lost. You wouldn't be able to tell me how to get to...” she looked at her paper. “Buchanan Hall, would you?”

  
“Buchanan Hall? Yeah, no problem! Do you have a phone?”

  
“Yep.” Simmons quickly dug through her pockets and pulled it out.

  
“Alright, I'll transfer the directions onto it so you'll be able to get out of here,” the blue light flashed and Fitz beeped a few times. “Done!”

  
“Thank you so much,” Simmons replied, backing towards the door. “I'm sorry for bothering you!”

  
“Don't be! It's nice to talk to someone for once! Really, it's only ever the scientists who come down here, not much to do otherwise. At least they got me a Netflix subscription, that kills time.”

  
Simmons laughed. “Well, I'll leave you to it, then! Thanks so much again!” she waved as she stepped out of the door.

  
“I hope you like it here,” he replied.

  
She smiled. “I think I will.”

  
And with that, Simmons booked it down the hall, directions on her phone, racing to get to class.

  
(She arrived ten minutes early).

* * *

  
Three days later, Fitz was midway through (yet another) Doctor Who binge watch when his sensors alerted him to the door opening. He adjusted his optic, and saw a young woman wearing a very comfy looking sweater entering the room, carrying what appeared to be a salad.

  
“Hi Fitz!” she beamed.

  
“Hello Simmons,” he replied. “Did you get lost again?”

  
“Nope, I don't have any classes today, so I thought I'd stop by. Is it okay if I eat in here?” she nodded her head to the salad. “I overslept and the cafeteria wasn't making breakfast anymore.”

  
If Fitz had eyebrows, he'd be raising them right now. “Why did you decide to come here?”

  
“Well, you said that you didn't get many non-scientist visitors, and I liked talking to you, so I came to keep you company! Seriously though, can I eat my salad? I'm starving.” she shook the container.

  
“Uh, yes, I think so, no one's really ever asked that before...” she thanked him as she sat herself on the floor and opened it.

  
“Um...” Fitz began. “Well, I was just watching some television. Do you like Doctor Who at all?” Simmons, whose mouth was currently full of lettuce, gave him a thumbs up, and he resumed playing the episode.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, my first AoS fanfic. Not going to lie, I am 1) really unhappy with this first chapter and 2) very passionate about robots. Stick with it and I promise it'll get better, this chapter is pretty much the "We gotta set this up," chapter.


End file.
